Relevance of New Crop Varieties and The Challenges Faced by Santa Farmers, North West Region of Cameroon
- July 12, 2021
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: Agriculture, IJRISS
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue VI, June 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186
Muluh Prudence Mankah*1, Tohnain Nobert Lengha2 , Christopher Mubeteneh Tankou3
1Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, Department of Rural Socioeconomics and Agricultural Extension, University of Dschang, Cameroon
2Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, Department of Rural Socioeconomics and Agricultural Extension, University of Dschang, Cameroon
3Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, Department of crop Science, University of Dschang, Cameroon
Abstract: This study was designed to analyze the relevance of new crop varieties and the challenges faced by Santa farmers, North West Region of Cameroon. Primary data were collected from 115 farmers involved in the cultivation of new seed varieties using purposive random sampling techniques. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).The results showed that 45.8% of farmers’ main difficulty encountered for cultivating new crop varieties was difficulty in multiplying seeds successfully. Also, 25.2% of farmers complained of not having access to large lands needed for cultivation. Furthermore, the introduction of new crop varieties led to the gradual disappearance of local seeds which automatically changed many people’s eaten habits in Santa. Despite the challenges faced, the study found that 61.6% of farmers adopted new varieties because it increased their productivity. The results equally reported that new crop varieties equally attracted and employed majority (52.3%) of the youths from towns to villages for farming.The study strongly recommends that the government and other stake holders should focus more on providing means to which farmers can be able to multiply seeds successfully. When this is done, then farmers in Santa are sure of having seeds that can be multiplied easily without incurring so much loss. Hence, this will equally help farmers from buying seeds almost every planting season.
Key words: Relevance, New crop varieties, challenges, Santa Subdivision, North West Region Cameroon
I. INTRODUCTION
With the rapid increase in the world’s population, which implies many mouth to feed and income to educate children, farmers in rural areas are increasing and diversifying their production in a quest to satisfy these needs (FAO, 2000). Most farmers, especially the smallholder farmers in Africa, tend to face some challenges in the process of production and this has played a big role in affecting their yields (Magdalena, 2015). One of the solutions is to improve upon agricultural technology and the other is to improve yields through the provision of high yielding seeds (Yeyoung et al, 2017).
In Cameroon, Fonjong (2004) posits that there has been a systematic neglect of the agricultural sector and its infrastructures in Cameroon, which has resulted in agricultural production that is below the country’s potential.
